"John will make sure that those whose duty it is to defend America have the information they need to make the right decisions," the president said in making the announcement, adding that after spending his life in foreign service, Negroponte understands America's global intelligence needs.

"John's nomination comes at a historic moment for our intelligence agencies," Bush said. "Intelligence is our first line of defense. If we're going to stop the terrorists before they strike, we must ensure our intelligence agencies work as a single, unified enterprise."

Negroponte, declaring he was "honored" to be chosen for the job, said that overseeing and reforming the nation's intelligence apparatus will be a "critical national task ... critical to our international posture, critical to the prevent of international terrorism and critical to our homeland security.
 

Foxnews.com.